textproduct: Quad Cities

KEY MESSAGES

- Upper low over the Great Lakes Region will keep us under north/northwest flow, ushering cooler and dry air into the region. Below normal temperatures can be expected, with little/no precipitation.

- Pattern slowly breaks down later this weekend and into the next work week, with some return flow working into the region. This will allow temperatures and moisture to increase, with precipitation chances returning to the area.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/

Issued at 240 AM CDT Tue Apr 28 2026

Cold front continues to push east of the area early this morning, keeping us under a cooler post-frontal airmass. We will continue to see influence from the upper wave, with a deck of low stratus slowly pushing east through the morning. Pressure gradient overhead remains modest, keeping gusty winds over the area this morning, especially in our north. By mid-morning, the pressure gradient will start to lighten, causing the gustiness to decrease. Although, a northwest breeze will remain through the day. Temperatures will be a little cooler today, with most in the low-mid 60s. Another weak wave will eject off of the Central Rockies midday, which will pass through this evening/tonight. We are not expecting much precipitation from this, with only Slight Chance PoPs in our southeast. Any precipitation will be light, owing to plenty of dry air to work through. Much of the moisture with this system will be in the mid-upper levels, which will keep clouds overhead through the second half of day and tonight. These clouds will help moderate temperatures tonight, keeping much of the area in the low-mid 40s. We will start to see cloud cover decrease late tonight from west-east, setting the stage for a cooler yet pleasant midweek.

LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/

Issued at 240 AM CDT Tue Apr 28 2026

We will remain under the influence of a broad trof and cutoff upper low over the Great Lakes Region through the remainder of the work week and start of the weekend. Within this pattern, we will see bouts of energy gyrate around the upper low, which bring through bouts of cloud cover and low-end chances for precipitation as the disturbances pass through. LLVL flow will remain lighter and generally out of the north/northwest, keeping us under cool/dry advection. Thus, we will be fighting for moisture as these pass through. Chances for precipitation will remain low (<20% chances), yet non-zero. Much of this will come through as spotty light showers or drizzle, with low QPF. Overall, much of the area should remain dry through this timeframe. With such a pattern in place, temperatures will remain below seasonal norms, with daily max temps gradually decreasing each day. Temperatures will remain in the upper 50s to low 60s, keeping us just a little cooler than we have been seeing, with a breeze.

Sunday and into the start of the new work week, we will see stronger northwest flow work into the north-central CONUS. This will usher in some strong waves, which will finally start to shift the aforementioned upper low east. With this, we will start to see a deeper response from these waves, allowing for some llvl return flow into the region. Thus, we will start to see temperatures increase into the mid/upper 60s to low 70s during this timeframe. Along with increasing temperatures, we will see moisture gradually increase, resulting in increasing chances (20-40%) for precipitation through the start of the new work week.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 638 AM CDT Tue Apr 28 2026

Satellite shows the back edge of MVFR stratus with ceilings between 1500 to 2500 ft moving into central Iowa this morning. This will allow for clearing of skies from west to east between 13 and 17 UTC starting with KCID and then being near KDBQ, KBRL, and KMLI by 17 UTC with VFR conditions prevailing that after. An upper level low is forecast to move across the area tonight bring ceilings between 5000 to 10000 ft to the area. There is low chance that MVFR ceilings will overspread the area after 06 UTC. Gusty northwest winds till continue to diminish but remain gusty at all TAF sites through 15 UTC as the gradient continues to relax with the departing storm system. After that, northwest winds of 5 to 10 knots are expected through the remainder of the period before turning to the north after 00 UTC.

DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

IA...None. IL...None. MO...None.